Sunset at the Thunderbird Resorts

My share for this week is something I took from the Thunderbird Resorts in Poro Point - San Fernando City, La Union. It was my sister's first time there, and we initially wanted to watch the sunset from the boardwalk, but the sun sets a bit later this time of the year and we had to be out of the resort by 6pm (because getting a ride out of the Poro Point Freeport Zone would be difficult after 6pm). By 5:45pm, the sun was setting, but it wasn't giving the sunset colors yet, so we decided to get back and eat our cake, which was something we planned to do once we saw the cake display. Well, eating the slices of cake took some time, and by the time we finished, we got to see this from the restaurant's window.

It wasn't really majestic, but seeing the orange and indigo hues in the sky and the orange streak in the water did make us happy that even if weren't at the boardwalk, somehow we were still able to watch the sunset.

*** Jenn ***

Kayumanggi (Brown)

Nito lamang Linggo, bago kami umuwi, kami ng bunso kong kapatid ay pumunta sa Vigan City. Nasabi ko sa kanyang gusto ko ulit kumuha ng litrato sa Calle Crisologo habang maliwanag pa, kasi iyon ang isa sa mga hindi ko nagawa noong huli akong bumisita sa lugar noong Oktubre. Marami kaming oras para magtagal sa Calle kaya't sinulit ko talaga ang pagkuha ng litrato.

{Just last Sunday, before sister and I traveled back home, we first went to Vigan City. I told her I wanted to take pictures in Calle Crisologo during day time because it was something I wasn't able to do when I visited the place last October. We had quite a lot time to spend in the city, so I really took my time in taking pictures in this famous street.}

Habang tumitingin ang aking kapatid ng mga bagay na maari niyang bilhin, nakita ko ang nakaparadang kalesa at nilapitan upang kuhanan ng litrato. Hindi na bago sa akin ang makakita ng kalesa (sapagkat meron din nito sa Manila City), pero tuwing nakakakita ako ng kalesa, parang napa-espesyal ng tingin ko dito - marahil kasi mas pangunahing mode of transportation na ang mga motorized vehicles.

{While sister was window shopping, I saw this parked kalesa (horse drawn carriage) and went closer to take some pictures. Kalesa is not something new for me as there are some in Manila City, too, but whenever I see one, I do find it real special, maybe because the main mode of transportation now are the motorized vehicles.}

Isang beses pa lang ako nakasakay ng kalesa sa Vigan (2006), at hindi pa dumaan sa Calle Crisologo dahil sumakay kaming magkakapatid mula Crisologo Museum papuntang Mira Hills, pero sa bisita kong ito, narinig ko sa mga kutsero na ang isang pasada sa Calle Crisologo ay nagkakahalaga ng p50... kaya siguro sa susunod kong bisita ay gagawin kong sumakay sa kalesa habang binabagtas ang Calle Crisologo para naman masabi kong bumalik talaga ako sa panahong nakalipas.

{I only got to ride the kalesa in Vigan just once (in 2006), and sadly, it didn't pass Calle Crisologo as my siblings and I took the kalesa from Crisologo Museum to Mira Hills, but on this particular visit, I heard that a kalesa ride along Calle Crisologo would be about p50... so maybe on my next visit I will take the kalesa ride along the street so I could really feel I took the time machine to yesteryears.}

*** Jenn ***

H - Hibiscus

I know "Hibiscus" is a popular choice when the letter "H" comes, but when I saw this particular hibiscus at the Rosary Garden of the Manaoag Church in Pangasinan, I knew I just had to take a picture of it and share it for the upcoming ABC Wednesday. Even if I am with my relatives, I just took my own path so I could take pictures as well. Glad am I that they understood - as waiting for me gave them enough time to rest and take their pictures using their cell phones. :)

Happy Wednesday!

*** Jenn ***

Exercises 8 & 9 - Plants and Eyes

I wasn't able to post my take on the assignments in time, so again, I will be doing a "two in one" post this week, featuring my takes for Exercises 8 and 9.


Exercise #8 - Plants

This I took while in La Union. It was difficult for me to find a plant with a good drama for photographs, and I didn't want to copy the sample photo in the exercise, so I decided to roam around our house grounds to find a suitable subject. I did find a very small aratiles tree (something just came out of the ground), but the overall image wasn't so good. I was about to call it a day when I noticed this grass - which looked like a very small Christmas Tree. I don't know if grasses can be classified as plants, too... but I did like this picture. I loved how my camera was able to make the grass look sharp and the rest blurred.


Exercise #9 - Eyes in Portraits

Something I took during the "last leg" of my vacation with sister. It was supposed to be a trip to Abra, but we canceled and went back to Vigan City instead. I knew my sister went up the belfry of Bantay Church just once (in 2008), so I took her there so we can climb again. There were very few tourists, so we were able to take our time, and remembering the exercise, I asked her to pose for a picture. I didn't want to just concentrate with the eyes.. so I just asked her to open her eyes good, and took this picture. My sister has always been there to be my model... I am thankful she was there to help me with this exercise.


Both pictures were taken initially for the "The Art of Composition" exercises, but since both were B/W, am also linking this up to Black and White Wednesday meme.

*** Jenn ***

Baguio Panorama

I got home from my vacation yesterday morning, but I didn't have much time to blog yesterday, so it's just now that I can start updating all of my blogs (I have five in case you wanted to know). Today is a Tuesday, time to highlight my ever so good Cysho - my Sony Ericsson K800i cell phone.




I took this one at the balcony of SM - a big mall in the city of Baguio after the 2011 Panagbenga Festival grand street parade. Baguio City is known for its cold climate, and the mall is one of the most unique branches of SM because there are parts in the mall that doesn't need air-conditioning system.

One of the places people go to was the balcony, and seeing the great view from above, I decided to take my cellphone, switch the shooting mode to "panorama" and took this picture. This picture was taken in three parts, but the cell phone did the stitching, all I did was to take the first part of the image (leftmost part), then the cellphone will give me part of the first shot so I can connect the second and third parts.

It's quite small to see, but on the right side you can see the Baguio Cathedral and parts of the mall's balcony.
*** Jenn ***